Mad World
by Zan1781
Summary: An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Bullying of any sort should never be condoned at school (or anywhere, for that matter), nor should any forms of intolerance be accepted. Bullying is another one of those topics that I feel extremely passionate about.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.

**Spoilers: **None.

**Summary: **An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.

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"Elliot," Olivia very quietly whispered under her breath, holding her gun out in front of her as they entered the house at 113 Pemberton Street. Blood. There was too much blood, and it was everywhere.

"I know," he whispered back, glancing down the hallway as he cautiously inched along the corridor. The trail was leading them directly toward the residence's home office, and for once, he had no idea what to expect. He and Olivia wouldn't have known that anything was wrong in the house to begin with, as a matter-of-fact, had it not been for the copious amounts of blood on the doormat. After knocking and ringing the doorbell numerous times to no avail, they called for backup, and entered the home.

_Be careful_, Olivia mouthed to her partner, stopping just in front of the office door. _Count of three_, she held up one finger, then two, followed by the third. Gently nudging the door open, she couldn't stop the surprised gasp that fell from her lips; the room's only occupant was Annabelle Lewis, the ninth grader whom they had been working with for the past several months. The young girl looked to be a complete mess: her hair was matted from sweat, her face was red and blotchy from tears, and she couldn't seem to stand still. It was very clear that she was in crisis mode, and that something terrible had happened to set her off.

Carefully pushing past his partner, Elliot scanned the room for any signs of an intruder, slightly sighing in relief when he couldn't detect one.

Pointing her weapon at the ground, Olivia gazed at the young girl in concern. "Annabelle, what happened? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm _not_ okay," Annabelle anxiously blurted out, standing just in front of her opened laptop, a gun held loosely by her side. "Does it _look _like I'm okay?" she asked, blood caked along several shallow cuts near her left wrist.

"What happened?" Olivia gently probed, cautiously walking further into the room. Although she had certainly noticed the gun, she really didn't think that the young girl would hurt her, especially given all that had taken place between the two of them over the past sixty days.

"_Don't _come near me," Annabelle shrieked, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. Bringing the gun up to her own head with a shaky hand, she added, "I don't want you to come anywherenear me, got it?"

"Okay, okay," Olivia immediately took a step backward, not wanting to scare Annabelle into making the biggest mistake of her life. Knowing that Elliot still had his own weapon out, she holstered hers. "I won't come near you, but I need to know what's going on, honey," she murmured.

"I'm going to kill myself, that's what's going on, and everyone is going to be able to watch," she sniffled her reply, her hand now shaking even more. Nodding at the camera connected to her computer, she returned her gaze to Olivia.

The detective's eyes widened in shock. What the hell was going on? "You don't have to do this, honey," she whispered to the terrified teenager, holding her empty hands up and open. "Please don't do this; you have other options, trust me."

"_Trust_ you?" Annabelle couldn't help but laugh in disbelief, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You want me to _trust_ you? Why _should _I? You haven't been able to help me so far," she added, holding the gun closer to her right temple.

"I know it may not seem like that," Olivia tried to remain calm, "But you don't want to do this, Annabelle. Think about what you're about to do," she inched toward the ninth grader.

"Don't you _dare _tell me what to do!" Annabelle took a step backward, instead wildly waving her gun at Olivia. "You have _no _idea what it's like to be me, do you? Do you even _remember _ninth grade, Olivia? Huh? Do you? Ninth grade _sucks_! _They _suck!"

"I know it does, honey, and I know that they do," Olivia remained still, her gaze riveted to Annabelle's face. "But please don't give them the satisfaction of ending your own life. Let us help you," she kept her voice even and steady. "Let _me _help you. _Please_," she practically begged.

"It's too late for that," Annabelle choked back a sob, shakily returning the gun to her temple. "I tried, Olivia, I really did. I tried _so _hard to stick it out, but in the end, I couldn't do it. I'm so sorry," she cocked the gun.

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**Reddington High School, two months ago**

Annabelle quietly moved through the hallways of Reddington High School, undetected as usual. She didn't mind the fact that no one in her school knew who she was; she preferred it that way, actually. She was quiet, she was shy, she really didn't have that many friends, but she was smart; the short, brown-haired, blue-eyed ninth grader was incredibly smart, and knew that in a mere three years' time, she would be able to apply to her dream university to start down the path for her dream job.

Annabelle was going to go to New York University, and she was going to be a lawyer. Although she still didn't yet know what type of law she wanted to practice, she knew for a fact that she wanted to help others.

But there was still one small problem remaining: she had to survive high school, first.

Taking a seat in the back of her political science class, Annabelle pulled out her notebook and several sharpened pencils, staring at the chalkboard as she waited for the rest of her peers to filter in. Although she _loved _the curriculum of this particular class, she disliked her classmates; they were mostly obnoxious boys who had nothing better to do than throw spit balls at the unassuming teacher. And fart. The boys seemed to _love_ to fart.

Carefully reading over the notes from yesterday's class, it took Annabelle several moments to realize that the people around her were being louder than normal. Glancing up to see what was going on, her eyes widened in surprise as Brett, one of the school's football players, handed her a folded piece of paper. Curiously opening it up, she looked back at him in confusion when all's she saw written on it was a phone number. Brett, for his part, simply winked at her.

Her confusion only grew more profound when Jesse, one of the school's soccer players, also handed her a folded up slip of paper. Unfolding this one, she blinked. This particular note contained not only a sloppily written phone number, but a crudely drawn phallic symbol, as well. What was going on?

Several boys chuckled at her as they took their seats, their eyes never leaving her face. "We saw your message," Steven, one of her classmates, grinned.

"What message?" Annabelle was still trying to figure out how anyone in the class even knew who she was. She rarely spoke to them, and they didn't run in the same circles; she actually didn't run in _any _circles.

"On Facebook," he clarified, "You know, with your list?"

Annabelle's face paled. She wasn't on Facebook, and she had no idea what they were talking about. "I don't know what—" she started to explain.

"Your sex list," Josh jumped in. "We saw the pictures that you posted. Not gonna lie, Annabelle, we want in."

"… In what?"

"Your pants."

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**TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay, but this was an insanely hectic week. Thanks, though, to everyone who took the time to read.

**A/N 2: **The bullying statistics come from how-to-stop-bullying dot com, isafe dot org, and cyberbullyalert dot com.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.

**Spoilers: **None.

**Summary: **An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.

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**Reddington High School**

Annabelle's face grew red and warm as she tried to process what the boys were telling her. A sex list? She didn't _have _sex; she didn't even have a boyfriend. And she wasn't on Facebook, either, so she knew that they had to be wrong about that.

_Call me_, Brett mouthed to her, miming making a phone call by holding his hand up to his ear. Again winking at her, he grinned.

Gross. Brett wasn't her type, nor did she find Jesse nor Josh even remotely attractive. Although she didn't mind athletes in general, she preferred the sorts of guys who didn't throw themselves at everything that moved; she liked the more intellectually quiet types, the ones more likely to be found studying in the library than roaming the hallways in their lettered jackets.

Looking away in embarrassment, Annabelle tried to focus on what the teacher was saying. The class was learning about the Bill of Rights found in the US Constitution, and she was completely fascinated. She loved this stuff, and thrivedon the freedoms found in the First Amendment.

But try as she might, she couldn't keep her mind from wandering back to the Facebook issue. _They have to be mistaken_, she thought to herself, absentmindedly copying the notes from the overhead. _It has to be someone else's Facebook account, because I don't have one. Maybe a different Annabelle? Yeah, that has to be it._

So engrossed in her own thoughts, Annabelle was completely unaware of the fact that a carefully folded note was slowly making its way back to her. She didn't hear the snickers from the boys in the room, nor did she notice the fact that her teacher was now subtly watching the note's progress.

Copying a few more sentences from the board, Annabelle practically jumped in surprise when the note finally landed on her desk for the briefest of moments, before her teacher swooped in and snatched it. "That's not mine," she whispered, her face once again crimson with embarrassment. "Really, Miss Diego, I have no idea whose it is." She only turned redder as the snickers turned into full-out laughs.

Miss Diego simply shoved the note into her pocket for the time being, tossing Annabelle a warning look as she walked back to the front of the room. Annabelle was really one of her better students, and had never gotten caught passing notes before; actually, she had never really been caught doing anything wrong at all.

Glancing up at the clock as the bell rang five minutes later, the young teacher nodded goodbye to her students as they filed out the door. When Annabelle approached, she handed her the note. "No more, got it?"

Annabelle didn't bother trying to explain to Miss Diego that the note really wasn't hers, knowing the futility of arguing. She simply shoved the offending piece of paper into her folder, nodded her understanding, and shuffled out into the hallway. Quietly maneuvering through the corridor, her books clutched tightly to her chest, she sighed in relief when she finally reached the safety of her own locker.

"Hey, Annabelle," Sammy, her best friend, casually leaned against the locker beside hers. "So… is there anything that you'd like to tell me?" she set her bag down on the floor, patiently watching as her friend gathered the books for her next few classes.

"No, not really," Annabelle tiredly shrugged. "Why do you ask?" She was still trying to wrap her head around what had happened during her last class, and about the mysterious phantom Facebook account.

Sammy rolled her eyes. "… If you're not careful, you're going to get arrested. You _do _know that, right?" she instead informed her.

Annabelle's face paled as she turned to study her friend. "What are you talking about? Arrested?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. If Sammy knew what was going on, perhaps she would finally get some much needed answers.

"Your Facebook account, as if you didn't know," Sammy tersely replied, her arms folded across her chest. Pointing to a bright yellow flyer taped to the wall, she continued, "And your new business endeavors. Are you okay, by the way? Because I'm not going to lie, Annabelle, your risky behavior is kind of scaring me."

Behavior? _What_ behavior? Annabelle quickly gazed at the flyer which was hanging above the water fountain, her eyes crinkling in confusion. "What is this?" she ripped it from the wall, her mouth suddenly going dry. "I don't _have_ aFacebook account!" she again loudly insisted, finally taking note of the fact that there were several small groups of students staring at her in amusement.

Carefully reading the flyer, her face fell more and more as the words sunk in. The advertisement directed people to the Facebook account of Annabelle Lewis, and promised 'interesting and unique goods for sale.' Trying to keep her eyes from watering, she looked up at her best friend. "I don't understand what's going on here."

"I've been to it, Belle," the other girl slowly shook her head, "And yeah, you do have an account. It has your pictures all over it, and your personal information is accurate. I don't know what's gotten into you, but don't you think that you should delete your account before you get into trouble? You've posted a list of things you'll do for money, and different types of drugs that you're willing to sell. You're going to go to jail if you keep this up."

"But this is nuts!" Annabelle slightly chuckled at the absurdity of the situation; if she didn't laugh, she knew for sure that she would start to cry. "I don't _have _a Facebook account. Seriously, Sammy, I don't use Facebook; I've never liked Facebook." Why would anyone go to the trouble of telling the school that she had an account when she really didn't? Or rather, why would anyone go to the trouble of making an account for her in the first place?

Sam remained quiet, staring at the various students who were now watching their exchange.

"This is ridiculous," Annabelle continued, her voice rising in pitch the more panicked and confused that she felt herself become. "Seriously, I'm not on Facebook, and I'm not selling 'interesting' or 'unique' items. You know me. Is this really something that I'd do? Especially if 'interesting' or 'unique' refers to something illegal, and I'd give anything to be a lawyer?"

Sammy blinked. "Well—" she hesitated.

"Sam, come on, you've known me for forever; please be reasonable. Is this something that I'd ever do?"

Sammy stared at the floor, her head hanging low. "No, I guess not. But why would someone create a Facebook account for you? It just doesn't make any sense."

"No, it doesn't," Annabelle slammed her locker shut, walking side by side with Sammy to their next class. "But I'll find a way to get rid of the account later tonight, and everything will be just fine."

But it wouldn't. This was only the beginning.

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**Earth Tones Coffee Shop, Alex and Olivia**

Alex found Olivia sitting at their favorite table in the corner of the small coffee shop, a steaming cup of coffee sitting in front of her. "Sorry I'm late," Alex apologized with a smile, taking a seat across from the detective.

"Long day?" Olivia gently asked, handing her a tall latte. Taking a sip of her own drink, she made herself comfortable in her chair.

"You could say that," Alex set her briefcase aside, gratefully clutching her latte between both hands. "I've been doing a lot of research on bullying for the Mendez case, and you'd be surprised at what I'm discovering."

"I bet I wouldn't be surprised," Olivia frowned. "Did you know that bullying is becoming more and more prevalent in the schools as the years go by? I've got a couple of bullying cases sitting on my desk as we speak."

"I know," Alex ruefully smiled. "The research shows that 77% of students attending school have been bullied in one form or another, and that 42% of the students with internet access have reported being bullied while online over the past year. That's a _lot _of bullying going on," she mused. "How do people have time to bully others? And why would they even _want_ to bully others? It makes no sense to me."

"I've never understood it," Olivia shook her head. "And I wish I knew how to fix the problem."

"I think a lot of people wish they knew how to fix the problem," Alex continued, taking a sip of her latte. "Every day, over one hundred thousand kids fake being sick just to avoid having to face a bully at school, and another one hundred thousand carry guns to school so that they can protect themselves. What kind of a world do we live in where people should have to fear for their lives every single day?"

"A mad one," Olivia simply replied. "And I'm not sure that it will get any better any time soon."

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**TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to read and/or review. It's much appreciated!

**A/N 2: **The bullying statistics in this chapter come from how-to-stop-bullying dot com. I am not a lawyer, so all of my law facts are coming from free online law sources. My apologies if the information is no longer accurate, or if I've misinterpreted what I've read.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.

**Spoilers: **None.

**Summary: **An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.

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**Reddington High School**

Annabelle and Sam took their customary seats near the back of the science classroom, trying their hardest to ignore the hubbub surrounding their very chatty classmates. The majority of the conversations were typical high school conversations: prior weekend plans, future weekend plans, prom plans, date plans, dinner plans, but every so often, Annabelle heard her own name thrown into the mix. It was unnerving, to say the least, and she hated it.

"Why do you think they're doing this to me?" she sadly asked her friend, doodling on a page of notebook paper while she waited for class to begin. "What have I ever done to them?"

"Nothing," Sam dismissively shrugged. "But sometimes people are just mean to other people. It sucks, but that's high school for you."

"Yeah, well I hate high school," Annabelle muttered under her breath. "I wish we could just graduate today and make it out into the real world. Then I could be a lawyer and just… prosecute people for things like this."

Sam watched as her classmates finished filing into the room. "It could be worse, I guess."

"How do you figure?" Annabelle curiously asked. "Someone created a Facebook account with my name on it, there are flyers all over the walls directing people to said account, and now boys are trying to purchase the illicit items from my alleged page. Everyone is talking about me, people are snickering behind my back, and for whatever reason, I've become the butt of everyone's joke in a record time of two hours. So please tell me, Sam, how could it be any worse?"

"Well when you put it like that—" Sam uneasily trailed off. "Yeah, it's kind of bad."

"Yeah, kind of."

"Are you sure that you didn't do anything to upset anyone recently?" her friend persisted. "You know, turn someone in for cheating on a test, budge someone in line at lunch, or steal someone's boyfriend?"

Annabelle rolled her eyes. "Of course I didn't do any of those things," she frowned. "Everything was fine last night when I went to bed, and not so fine when I woke back up again this morning. I just wish I knew why they were targeting me. They, uh, _are _targeting me, right? It isn't just my imagination or anything?"

"You're not imagining it," Sam replied with a shrug, glancing up at the front of the room. "Just be thankful that they haven't started texting you or something like that. That would make everything worse, I would think."

"They don't have my phone number," Annabelle softly murmured, her eyes narrowing when she noticed two girls pointing and giggling at her. Lowering her head so that she wouldn't have to watch them, she shifted in her seat and sighed. "This is absolutely ridiculous. I think that I need to see the vice-principal after class," she muttered.

"How will that help, Belle? So what, people put flyers on the walls and are laughing at you. You think that the administration will even care? They have more important things to worry about than getting people to leave you alone," her friend added.

"… I guess you're right," Annabelle couldn't stop her eyes from watering. Running her fingers through her hair, she chanced a glance at the rest of the room. She could still periodically hear her name being mentioned, and it bothered her.

It also bothered her that she and Sam had ripped at least a half dozen _Annabelle Lewis Facebook _flyers from the wall as they walked from her locker to their Earth science class. She was afraid to know if there were any more flyers lining the rest of the walls of the school, but her best guess was that yeah, there probably was.

"It's really pretty ironic, you know that?" Annabelle finally spoke up.

"What is?"

"It's normally pretty difficult to motivate a group of teenagers to do anything together, and here we are, with everyone seeming to join forces against me. Why me? It's just stupid. Very, very stupid. I'm one of the least threatening people in this building."

"Maybe that's why you're being targeted," Sam glanced at her friend, "Because you're non-threatening and they don't think you'll fight back."

Annabelle didn't have a chance to reply to that thought, however, as her teacher entered the room and began class. She just knew that it was only second period, and she already felt exhausted. Her face was warm, she was having a very difficult time concentrating on her lessons, and she just wanted to go home. Being home would make everything better.

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**Earth Tones Coffee Shop, Alex and Olivia**

Olivia absentmindedly rubbed her forefinger along the rim of her coffee mug, watching the steam spiral into the air. "This truly is a mad world," she repeated her previous statement. "Do you know that I sometimes refuse to watch the news when I'm home alone?"

"I can understand that," Alex rested her arms on the table top. "You tend to live the news, so why bother inundating yourself with it when you're off duty?"

Olivia nodded, shifting her attention to the sidewalk just outside of the coffee shop. "The violence in this city is outrageous and egregious, and it gets to me whenever the innocent are taken advantage of. Actually, it gets to me whenever _anyone _is taken advantage of, but you know what I mean," she frowned.

"I do, and it's understandable," Alex granted. "Let me ask you this, Liv," she then took a sip from her hot drink. "What are your thoughts on the twenty-first century school system versus the schools that we had when we were growing up?"

"Is that a dig about me growing up in the Stone Age?" Olivia half-joked. At Alex's shake of the head no, she shrugged. "Clearly, being a wired society is changing the face of today's school system."

"Better technology means better access to resources," Alex supplied. "And better access to resources means more opportunities."

"But it also means more efficient ways to bully someone," Olivia pointed out. "I highly doubt that Alexander Graham Bell would approve of his invention being used to belittle a kid to the point of tears."

"Texting?" Alex asked.

"And sexting," Olivia confirmed. "Society has made it so easy to destroy the reputation of anyone; all that you really need is access to a cell phone or even a computer, one of which can be found for free at any local library."

"Good point," Alex conceded. "But still, do you think that we'd be better off without the use of technology?"

The detective sighed, mulling over Alex's question. "I don't know," she finally replied. "I mean, I guess not, but I don't know what the answer is. Kids are destroying other kids through their cell phones and the internet, and people are dying over things that are being said. Suicides, murders, murder-suicides; I think that society has a pretty big problem on its hands, Alex."

"Maybe it just comes down to better parenting," Alex mused, even though she knew that that wasn't necessarily the right answer either. She and Olivia had often times had the 'single-parent with three jobs just trying to survive' debate. "I know, I know, the parents can't be responsible for everything. But I think that it goes beyond the school, too," she maintained. "It has to."

"I just don't know," Olivia took a sip of her now tepid coffee. "How do we teach kids right from wrong, especially when it comes to new frontiers like the internet? Someone has to, because at the rate we're going, things are going to continue to get much worse."

"Hopefully things will get better the more laws and legal precedents against cyber-bullying we can set. It will happen, Liv, things just take time." A lot of time, she unfortunately knew all-too-well.

"And while we're waiting for the law to catch up to technology, those one hundred thousand kids will keep on bringing their guns to school."

Alex didn't have a good response to that.

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**TO BE CONTINUED**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Thanks to those of you who have taken the time to read and/or review. It's much appreciated! The next chapter will talk more about the laws that I have mentioned. Again, I am not a lawyer, so all of my law facts are coming from free online law sources. My apologies if the information is no longer accurate, or if I've misinterpreted what I've read.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.

**Spoilers: **None.

**Summary: **An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.

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**Home of Annabelle Lewis, later that day**

Annabelle sighed in relief when she finally reached the sanctuary of her own home. The day had been trying, to say the least, and she was grateful that she no longer had to be in school. As she had suspected, the hallways had been plastered with _Annabelle Lewis Facebook_ flyers, and the student body seemed to be out of control. While first and second periods had been fraught with unwanted attention from a few of her classmates, the day had continued to get progressively worse: the floodgates had opened up, but rather than water, she had been inundated with a torrent of jokes and purchasing requests for items that she would never have dreamed of selling.

In a sense, her day had been both frustrating and downright humiliating, and still, nothing made sense to her. She couldn't figure out why anyone would want to target her, because again, she wasn't popular, she wasn't athletic, she wasn't an outcast. She was just regular, old, quiet Annabelle, who never did anything to anyone.

"Hey, Jasper," the ninth grader sighed, plopping down on the couch next to her gray and black stripped tiger cat. "How are you doing, buddy?" Jasper simply purred his reply, rolling over so that Annabelle could better reach his belly. "What a life," she mumbled to him, scratching his belly anyhow.

Getting to her feet and shuffling off into the kitchen for an afternoon snack of carrots and ranch dressing, Annabelle glanced at the answering machine on her way to the fridge. What she saw made her blood run cold and her face pale, although she really had no idea why she was so surprised. "Should have expected this, I guess."

The number 17 flashed brightly on the answering machine's readout, which meant that her family had received sixteen more messages than they were normally accustomed to receiving in one day.

Preparing herself for the worst, Annabelle hit the play button.

_Hey Annabelle, this is Trevor. You know, from lunch? Call me. 555-341-5849. I got what you need._

"That's not even proper grammar," Annabelle frowned, deleting the message. Trevor didn't have anything that she wanted nor needed.

_Yo Sunshine, whad'up? Hit me up at 555-643-4512. Later._

That message was also immediately deleted, followed by messages three, four, and five. Messages six and seven left her face bright red with embarrassment, while fourteen and fifteen made her sick to her stomach.

_Hey, Bella, Josh on the line. Wanted to know if you wanted to grab some dinner later? Maybe some ice cream? Or a little something something, if you know what I mean? Call me, you know the number._

Messages sixteen and seventeen were deleted in the blink of an eye, completing the long string of pointless phone calls from jerks just trying to harass her.

Although the harassment had only just begun, Annabelle was already tired of it. "This has to end," she muttered to herself, pacing the small confines of her kitchen. Despite being very unsettled and uncomfortable, she was surprisingly calm and collected. She knew that she had to do something about what was going on, but she had no faith that her school would appropriately respond to the situation. It wasn't that her school was necessarily bad, per say, but the administrators seemed to care more about the community's perception of the school rather than the school itself.

"It's all a façade," Annabelle mused, walking into her bedroom so that she could boot up her computer. "The school is clean on the surface, but underneath? Not that fantastic. It's the Gilded Age," she informed Jasper, who had followed her into her room and was now comfortably sitting and purring on her bed. "Gold on the outside but dirty on the inside."

Taking a seat at her desk, Annabelle logged onto the internet and navigated toward Google. In two hours time, she hoped to be walking into one of New York's precincts to lodge a formal complaint.

The bullying had gone on long enough, and she was done with it.

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**16****th**** Precinct, several hours later**

Annabelle hesitantly stood outside of the doors to her local precinct, her notebook clutched tightly in one sweaty hand. She had spent quite a bit of time researching the topic of bullying, and knew that she had enough valid information to make someone take note of her situation. Or at least she hoped that she did, anyhow.

But the fact of the matter was that the ninth grader was still very intimidated by the police station. As someone who had never really been in trouble with the law before, the majority of her information on law enforcement came from Fox's _Cops… _and she didn't want anything to do with stun guns or drug busts.

Reddening at the stupidity of her own stereotypical fears, Annabelle took a deep breath and stepped into the waiting room of the precinct. "You're being ridiculous," she muttered to herself. "You haven't done anything wrong; you aren't a criminal. You can do this."

"Can I help you?" A bored looking officer sitting at the front desk finally acknowledged her presence, peering at her over the tops of his wire-rimmed glasses.

"Yeah, uh, I'd like to report a crime," Annabelle stammered, shifting from foot to foot in nervousness. "Is there someone that I can talk to?"

"Take a seat," the officer pointed to the waiting room. "And take a number."

Annabelle's eyes widened in surprise; she really hadn't expected to have to wait to report her crime, and had hoped to be home before her parents even noticed her absence.

Doing as the officer told her, however, she made herself as comfortable as possible, frowning when the minutes stretched into an hour, and an hour into an hour and a half.

"Um… sir?" Annabelle again got to her feet, hesitantly walking over to the desk. "I sort of have to head home soon. Are you sure that there aren't any officers or detectives that I can talk to? I won't take up much of their time, I promise," she trailed off. "Please, it's important."

"'Fraid not," the man replied, going back to his crossword puzzle. "Not sure when the detectives will be free. You might as well come back tomorrow."

"Oh," Annabelle hung her head, backing away from the desk. "Okay," she mumbled, unaware of the fact that two detectives were now standing almost directly behind her. Bumping into one of them, she jumped as her notebook tumbled to the floor.

"Are you okay?" the female detective asked, stooping over to grab the notebook. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"I'm fine, sorry," Annabelle meekly replied, reaching for her notebook.

"Is there something that we can help you with?" the detective kindly asked. "My name is Olivia, by the way."

"I just came to report a crime, but I have to go home now," she kept her eyes riveted to the floor, for whatever reason suddenly feeling very shy. "I've been here for an hour and a half already, but I have to catch the bus back home before my parents find out that I'm gone."

Olivia stared at the officer on duty for a moment, a small frown of dismay on her face. Her expression indicated that they would clearly have words later. "Well I would be more than happy to meet with you right now," she tilted her head toward the back of the precinct. "Why don't you follow me?"

"Are you sure?" Annabelle's face lit up in relief. "I can come back tomorrow if you'd prefer."

"Today will be just fine," Olivia smiled, nodding at her partner. "I'll catch you later, Elliot."

"See you in the morning," Elliot called over his shoulder as he left the precinct.

"So what brings you down here?" the tall detective asked, leading Annabelle to one of the conference rooms.

"… Well…" Annabelle cleared her throat, her face reddening in embarrassment. "I'm kind of being bullied in school, and I wanted to report it to the police. I would have reported it to the school's administrators," she rushed on, "But I really didn't think that they'd care."

"What makes you say that?" Liv gently asked, taking a seat at the table.

Annabelle shrugged. "They just don't seem to care about the students all that much," she frowned. "I know that that sounds harsh, but it's kind of true."

Olivia empathetically nodded her understanding, leaning back in her chair. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

The ninth grader heavily exhaled, resting her hands in her lap. "Someone in my school created a Facebook account for me, and it's… disgusting."

"Disgusting how?" Olivia flipped open her own notepad, prepared to take notes.

"It says that I'm a drug dealer and a prostitute," Annabelle whispered, her hands fidgety. "But I'm not," she made it a point to tell Olivia. "I would never do the things that it says that I would be willing to do. And I don't have a Facebook page either, for the record."

Olivia earnestly gazed at the young girl sitting before her, not really sure what to say at first. "That would definitely be upsetting," she agreed. "How did you find out about this page?"

Annabelle flipped open her notebook, grabbing one of the folded _Annabelle Lewis Facebook Page _flyer. "This," she slid it across the table to the detective. "They were plastered all over school this morning."

Reading over the announcement, Olivia's eyes widened in disappointment.

"Wait, actually, that's not right," Annabelle corrected herself. "I first knew that something was wrong when a bunch of boys propositioned me first period. This is bullying, right?" she hesitantly asked. "If it is, I've got some things that I'd like to share with you."

"This is bullying, all right," Olivia sighed. _Stupid twenty-first century technology._

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**Earth Tones Coffee Shop, Alex and Olivia**

"I received a very interesting visit from a ninth grader a couple of hours ago," Olivia mused, gazing out of the coffee shop's large wall-to-wall windows at the passing street pedestrians.

"Oh?" the assistant district attorney quirked an eyebrow, taking a sip from her latte.

"I think you'd like her, actually," Olivia chuckled. "She's kind of a mini-you. Well, a brown-haired mini-you, anyhow."

"Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?" Alex feigned indignation.

"Although one Alexandra Cabot is enough for this world, it's not a bad thing," Olivia smirked. "Anyhow, so this ninth grader walked into the precinct today and wanted to report being bullied."

"How is that interesting?"

"She came armed with her own case files," Olivia replied. "How often does that ever happen? She cited the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, not to mention the New York State bullying and harassment laws."

A victim bringing her own prosecution materials with her to report the crime was certainly new to Alex, as well. "Cyber-bullying?" the attorney quirked an eyebrow. "Unusual but not totally unheard of these days, as we've been discussing."

"That's exactly what Annabelle said," Olivia couldn't help but smile. "She's practically outlined your entire case for you, should you happen to take it." The detective didn't say it aloud, but she rather liked the ninth grader. Annabelle reminded her a bit of Alex, in terms of her intellect, independence, and vulnerability, and a very strong part of her wanted Alex to not only take the case, but to hit it out of the ballpark, as well.

"Break it down for me," Alex finally replied, taking another sip of her latte. "Let's see what we can figure out. Keep it down, though, please, what with confidentiality and all."

Olivia rolled her eyes, diving right into Annabelle's story.

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**TO BE CONTINUED**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N #1: **I don't understand why people bully; cruelty makes no sense to me. And also, I apologize for the updates taking so long. I seem to have a serious case of writer's block, and listening to the song Mad World over and over again doesn't seem to be helping.

**A/N #2: **The law information in this chapter comes from www dot proskauer dot com, and www dot meganmeierfoundation dot org. I am not a lawyer, so please forgive any mistakes that I make in interpreting the information that I have read.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.

**Spoilers: **None.

**Summary: **An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.

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**16****th**** Precinct**

Annabelle stared at the wall behind Olivia, too embarrassed to meet her gaze. The detective had been nothing but friendly to the ninth grader, but she was shy and a little bit uncomfortable at the prospect of describing some of the things that had been happening to her.

"Have you ever been bullied before this series of incidents?" Olivia gently probed, trying to draw Annabelle's attention back to the conversation.

"Hmm?" Annabelle jumped at the sound of Olivia's voice, dragging her eyes back to the detective's face.

"Have you ever been bullied before this series of incidents?" she tried again, a sincere smile on her face.

Annabelle slowly shook her head no, running her fingers through her now mussed-up hair. "To be honest with you, that's what's so strange about this situation. I'm the equivalent of a nobody at my school," she quietly tried to explain. "I'm not in any social clubs, I rarely raise my hand in class, I only have one friend, and I don't talk to anyone unless they talk to me first. Which they never do. I don't understand," she shrugged. "Why would anyone want to do this to me?"

"I'm not sure, honey," Olivia softly replied. "But we'll figure this out. I'm going to have our tech department take a look at the Facebook page, but in the meantime, what else has been going on?"

"Phone calls," Annabelle immediately pulled a cassette tape from her pocket. "I received seventeen calls from classmates today," she slid the cassette across the table to Olivia. "They're all mostly explicit, although a few are anonymous. I figured that you could request my phone records from the phone company to determine who's been making the calls. They have to be illegal, right?"

Olivia nodded, another smile gracing her lips. This kid _really _reminded her of Alex. "For the most part, yes, obscene calls are definitely illegal. And we can charge someone with disorderly contact if they keep calling you."

"Good," Annabelle stared at her hands, relief flooding her face. "Definitely good. So this is something that you can investigate?" she hesitantly inquired. "And hopefully take care of? Today was a nightmare."

"My partner and I will absolutely do some investigating into this situation," the detective murmured. "We'll stop by your school tomorrow and try to get to the bottom of things."

"Thank you," Annabelle pulled another packet of information from her notebook. Shyly, she handed everything over to Olivia. "I know that detectives and assistant district attorneys are all smart, but I did some research before I stopped over here. Although you probably already know all of this, I thought you might like to see what I found."

Olivia glanced at the top page of the packet, her eyes widening in surprise.

"I know that there aren't a ton of laws against cyber-bullying," Annabelle rushed on, "But people are being convicted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act."

"I thought that that act referred to hacking and stealing someone else's identity?" Olivia continued to read through the document.

"It technically does," Annabelle agreed, "But prosecutors have found a way to use it to convict people, or at least one person in particular, anyhow."

"I see," Olivia mused, not really seeing at all. Alex could explain it to her later, though. "Well here's what we're going to do," she earnestly gazed at Annabelle. "My partner and I are going to pay your school a visit tomorrow morning, and we'll see what we can figure out. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course," Annabelle shyly smiled at Olivia. "Maybe everything will stop once you step in."

"That's the plan," Olivia smiled back, getting to her feet. "Do you need a ride home? It's getting late," she noted, glancing down at her watch.

Annabelle shook her head. "I live nearby, but thank you," she gathered her notebook and papers. "So… I'll see you tomorrow morning?"

"Definitely," Olivia patted the young girl on the shoulder, walking with her toward the front of the precinct. "Hang in there, okay?" she asked as they approached the front doors. "Everything will be just fine."

"I will," Annabelle again beamed, finally feeling some hope that the events of the day would not make a repeat performance.

Waving goodbye, the detective immediately walked over to the front desk, staring at the still bored looking officer who had forced Annabelle to wait for over an hour and a half. "We need to talk. Now."

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**Earth Tones Coffee Shop, Alex and Olivia**

"What do you know about the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act?" Olivia asked Alex, gazing across the table at her friend.

"Well," the assistant district attorney pursed her lips in thought, taking a sip of her drink. "It mostly deals with hacking into computers for the use of fraud."

"Yup," Olivia agreed. "Annabelle cited it as a possible way of prosecuting the kids who are harassing her."

Alex remained silent, thinking about that for a moment. "It's been done before," she finally admitted. "Almost successfully, too. Does the name Megan Meier ring a bell?"

"Yeah," Olivia's face fell. "2006 suicide in Missouri, right?"

Alex simply nodded. "An adult in the community allegedly created a MySpace account for the sole purpose of figuring out what Megan thought about her daughter. She pretended to be a cute sixteen year old boy to gain the girl's trust, and then said some very hurtful things. Or as she claims, a temporary employee of hers said some very hurtful things."

"I remember," Olivia whispered, staring down at her hot chocolate. "Megan was thirteen, and in that socially awkward stage that girls sometimes go through. She started communicating with a guy on MySpace, and was truly happy at their growing friendship."

"Then the boy left her some pretty nasty messages, and everyone started posting horrible things on her page. After one particularly cruel message, Megan took her own life," Alex concluded.

Olivia felt cold and a little sick to her stomach. She didn't understand how people could be so hateful toward one another. "So did the local authorities prosecute?" she asked her friend.

"No," Alex quietly replied.

"Why the hell not?" the detective angrily asked.

"They couldn't, Liv," she murmured. At the time, cyber-bullying wasn't illegal in Missouri. They had absolutely nothing to charge her with."

"So the adult got away with it?"

"I didn't say that," Alex reminded her. "The local authorities couldn't charge her with anything, but the federal authorities used the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to convict her."

"But how does cyber-bullying fall under that act?"

"The prosecutors made the claim that the mother violated MySpace's terms of service agreement when she—or someone in her employ—provided erroneous information in the creation of the account. The prosecutors had to come up with a creative way to convict her for Megan's death."

"And they were successful?" Olivia persisted.

"Yes and no. The mother was convicted in 2008, but the verdict was overturned in 2009."

"So she got away with it," the detective morosely pointed out.

"Maybe, Olivia, but don't you see?" Olivia shook her head no. "Megan's death shot cyber-bullying right into the limelight. Cyber-bullying is now illegal in many states, thanks, in part, to her case."

"But that doesn't bring her back."

"No, but at least her death has helped to bring about some positive changes."

"Yeah, I guess," Olivia frowned.

"Would you like to continue discussing Annabelle's case now?" Alex gently prodded.

Olivia wanly smiled at Alex, nodding her head in the affirmative.

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**TO BE CONTINUED**

**A/N #3: **I remember when Megan Meier's death occurred. It really struck a chord with me, and led me in a specific direction in my life. I felt so badly for her and her family, and still feel sick when I think about what happened to her and how she must have felt in those final days. If you get a chance, check out www dot meganmeierfoundation dot org. Like I've said, people don't always realize how powerful words can be—for good or for bad.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **I apologize for the updates taking so long. Things have been crazy between looking for a job and planning for my wedding… I had hoped to have this story done by May 21… I'm not sure if that will happen, but I'll give it my best shot.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.

**Spoilers: **None.

**Summary: **An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.

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**Reddington High School**

Annabelle walked into school the following morning with her head held high and a slight feeling of hope in her heart. Olivia had promised to come to Reddington High today in order to investigate her claim, and she knew that the detective would make everything better. She had to make things better, because Annabelle didn't know how much longer she would be able to take the harassment from her peers.

Stopping at her locker to grab her books for first and second periods, Annabelle chose to ignore the new Facebook flyers that were now hanging on her locker door and throughout the hallway. "No point in taking them down," she muttered to herself. "They're just going to re-appear next period."

"What was that?" Sammy asked, approaching her friend's locker.

"The flyers," Annabelle sighed, slamming the door shut. "I said there's no point in taking them down, because someone is just going to put them right back up again."

"I guess so," Sammy shrugged. "Honestly, Belle, I don't know why this is bothering you so much," she added. "It's just a poster."

"You're joking, right?" Annabelle clutched her political science textbook more tightly to her chest.

"Uh, no, I'm not joking. It's just a poster, and it won't hurt you."

Annabelle stared at her friend in disbelief, trying to understand her train of thought. "Yeah, the _poster _won't hurt me, but do you think it's acceptable to receive thirty phone calls a night from people asking for drugs or sex? Do you _know _how upset my parents were with me last night? They treated me like _I_ did something wrong, and I didn't!"

"But still," Sammy lamely continued. "It isn't like anyone is physically hurting you or anything. Don't you think that you should just loosen up a bit? Just a teensy-tiny bit?"

"I'll see you after class," Annabelle instead tersely replied, briskly walking away from her friend so that she couldn't see just how much her words had actually hurt her.

Walking into class moments later, Annabelle slumped into her chair. She barely reacted as Brett dropped a note on her desk, nor did she bother reading the notes that Jesse and Steven threw at her; she knew what the notes would say, and she didn't want to deal with their messages.

No, the better solution was just to ignore everyone. If she ignored them, they would all go away in time.

But they didn't.

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"Good morning, we're here to see Principal Reid Bannon," Olivia flashed her badge at the secretary in the main office of Annabelle's school.

"Do you have an appointment?" the secretary asked, giving the detective a fake smile.

"Our badges are our appointments," Elliot interjected, pulling out his own. "Now is the principal in the building today? Or do we need to go track him down somewhere else?"

"He always takes a morning stroll around the school at this time, but he should be back soon," she primly replied. "Why don't you take a seat?"

"Thank you," Olivia politely sat, glancing over at Elliot. "Did you see the flyers when we walked through the door?" 

"I did," he nodded. "If the principal is walking the hallways, he should also see them."

Olivia clasped her hands in her lap, reading the various posters hanging in the office. There was one for respect, one for team work, and one for anti-bullying. "Huh," she held back a short chuckle. "Lot of good those are doing. Hey, Ma'am?" she returned her attention to the secretary. "Do you have much of a bullying problem here?"

"Of course not," the secretary set her pen down. "We have a great group of students, all of whom are well-behaved and smart. We've never had a major problem with any of them."

"I see," Olivia pursed her lips.

Before she could say anything else, however, the principal, a balding and heavy-set man of around fifty-five, walked into the room. "All looks well, Gwen," he smiled at the secretary. "The students are in their classrooms, and learning is taking place."

"Mr. Bannon?" Olivia got to her feet. "Sir, my name is Detective Benson, and this is my partner, Detective Stabler. Can we have a few minutes of your time, please?" she asked, showing him her badge.

"Sure," Bannon smiled, gesturing to his office, "Anything for members of the law. What can I do for you two fine people?" he asked, taking a seat behind his desk a few seconds later.

"We received a complaint from one of your students, and needed to follow-up on it," Elliot began.

"Oh?" the principal looked both confused and concerned. "Has something happened to one of our kids?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Olivia murmured, pulling a copy of the Facebook flyer out of her pocket. "Sir, these flyers are currently posted all around your school, and they target one of your students."

"I've never seen this before in my life," his face crinkled in concern as he read over the flyer.

Olivia and Elliot exchanged glances. How was that even possible? Did he not just come back from a walk around the school? Did he not walk around the school every single morning? "I see," she cleared her throat. "Well in any event, Annabelle Lewis, one of your students, has been the target of harassment for a couple of days now. Someone distributed these flyers around school, and she has dozens of recorded phone calls from students who have been repeatedly calling her at night."

"And so you would like the flyers taken down?" he asked.

Olivia frowned.

"Of course you would, of course you would," he quickly answered his own question, picking up the phone and dialing the custodian's office. Getting someone on the line, he requested that the entire custodial staff go around and remove the flyers from the wall, priority one. "Is there anything else that I can do for you today?" he then asked.

Olivia's frown only deepened as her frustration mounted. "Sir, do you realize that you're looking at a pretty serious bullying problem here?"

"From some posters and a few phone calls? Come on, Detectives," he grinned. "Kids will be kids, right? They're just goofing around. They'll stop as soon as the posters are removed, I guarantee it."

"I don't think you're quite grasping the severity of this, Sir," Elliot finally spoke up. "You've got a 9th grade girl being targeted by someone or possibly someones, and your students are violating a couple of laws in doing so. At the very least, I would strongly suggest that you run an anti-bullying assembly."

"Sure, we can do that," the principal flashed the two detectives an insincere smile, "Sure, no problem at all. Thank you for stopping by, Detective Benson and Detective Stabler."

Olivia and Elliot again exchanged annoyed glances. "Before we go, I'd like to speak with Annabelle. Can you please tell me where I can find her?" Olivia asked.

Bannon pulled up Annabelle's schedule, relaying the information to Olivia. "Have a nice day, now!" he called out as they left his office.

"You're upset," Elliot needlessly pointed out once they were in the hallway.

"Hell yeah, I'm upset, Elliot. He couldn't care any less about what we had to say," she told him, her long legs quickly carrying her through the empty hallways. "Annabelle was absolutely correct in coming to us; her principal is a joke of a principal who won't do anything."

"I agree," Elliot calmly replied, "Although the flyers will be taken down immediately."

Olivia snorted. "That won't do any good, and you know it," she slowed down as they approached Annabelle's political science classroom. "Those kids will just have the flyers back up next period." Knocking on the closed door, she beckoned the teacher over.

"Yes, can I help you two?" the teacher quizzically asked.

"Hello," Olivia warmly smiled, discretely flashing her badge. "We need to speak with Annabelle Lewis for a moment, please. We promise to have her back in class shortly."

"Of course, hold on a second," the teacher re-closed the door, calling out Annabelle's name.

Lost in thought, Annabelle didn't hear her name being called until it was called for the third time. Jumping out of her chair, she darted to the front of the room.

"There's someone in the hallway for you," the teacher briefly smiled.

Annabelle walked out of the classroom, a sigh of relief escaping her lips when she saw Olivia and Elliot standing there. "I'm so glad to see you," she told Olivia. "Really, this day has been a nightmare… and it really just began."

"I bet," Olivia replied, leaning against the wall. "By the way, this is my partner, Elliot Stabler. We just wanted to stop by to see how you're doing."

"I'm okay," Annabelle shrugged. "Just more notes, more flyers, the usual requests for activities under the bleachers. And it's only first period."

"Well we spoke with your principal, and he's going to have the flyers removed," Olivia cautiously continued.

"Well that's a start," Annabelle smiled. "Is he going to do anything else?"

"Not exactly, no," Elliot replied. "Not yet, anyhow."

Annabelle's face fell, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I knew he wouldn't care; he never does. He only cares about his precious sports teams."

"We're still going to run an investigation," Olivia continued, "So hold tight. I'll need the names of the students who've been bothering you, and we'll work on getting to the bottom of this. I just need you to hang in there for a bit."

"Okay," Annabelle mumbled.

"Here's my card," Olivia handed it to her, studying Annabelle's face. "And I've put my cell phone number on it. You call me if you need anything at all, okay? I mean it: anything at all."

"Yeah, okay," Annabelle tried not to cry; she felt so overwhelmed and upset, and she just wanted things to go back to normal.

"I promise, honey, things will be okay," Olivia tried again.

"Okay," Annabelle repeated, desperately wanting to believe Olivia. Mustering up the tiniest of smiles for the two detectives, she nodded toward the door. "We're going over the Fifth Amendment. I should probably get back in there."

Olivia simply patted Annabelle's shoulder in comfort, watching as the student retreated back into her classroom. "What the hell is going on here?" she sighed.

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out," Elliot led his partner back to the front of the school. "We have to."

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**TO BE CONTINUED**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **As always, thank you to those of you who have taken the time to read this story. I'm still hoping to have it done by May 21st!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.

**Spoilers: **None.

**Summary: **An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.

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**16****th**** Precinct**

"Well that was a waste of time," Olivia muttered to Elliot as they stopped for a bite to eat at a hot dog vender just outside of the precinct. "Annabelle was right about one thing, though: her principal just doesn't seem to care."

"Or maybe he's just oblivious as to how serious of an issue this really is," Elliot replied, paying for both meals.

"He wasn't oblivious," she wandered over to a park bench, taking a seat. "Not by a long shot. Or maybe he _was_ oblivious," she shrugged, "And doesn't understand that bullying is illegal and detrimental to any organization. But you'd think that he'd care a bit more about the situation when two detectives show up at his door."

"I know," Elliot agreed, taking a huge bite of his hot dog. "Or at the very least, you'd think that he'd understand that if the bullying doesn't stop, Annabelle could legally sue the school district. Money tends to talk."

"She won't sue," Olivia shook her head. "She doesn't strike me as being the type of person who would retaliate in that type of a manner."

"Liv, she doesn't strike me as the type of person to retaliate in _any _manner," Elliot replied. "But that doesn't mean that Mr. Bannon wouldn't pay more attention if he knew that suing could be a possible outcome of the bullying problem."

"Yeah, that's true," Olivia nodded her understanding.

"So what do we do now?"

"Let's go see how the tech people are doing with the Facebook account; maybe they'll be able to give us a lead to follow. And if they don't have anything for us, let's go pick up the boys who have been passing the notes to Annabelle. I'm sure that Alex will want to talk with some of them."

"Sounds like a plan," Elliot finished his hot dog, getting to his feet.

Olivia also got to her feet, briskly heading back to the precinct.

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**Reddington High School**

"Whoa, Annabelle, you've gotta see this!" Sammy ran up to her friend's locker, waiving her cell phone in her face.

"What is it?" Annabelle finished putting her books away, reaching for her backpack and jacket. "Do I really want to know?"

Sam tried not to laugh, handing over her phone. "You're on Twitter!"

"… What?" Annabelle's face paled, already knowing where this was going. "What are you talking about?"

"You've got a Twitter account, and I have to say, it's kind of on the funny side."

"You _do_ know that this isn't really my account, right?" Annabelle asked, her face now turning green as she read some of the things that she was supposedly doing.

"Of course I know it isn't yours," Sammy rolled her eyes. "I saw a flyer advertising your account in the bathroom, so I knew it was created by the same people who made your Facebook account. It's still amusing, though, which is why I'm now following you."

"This isn't funny," Annabelle whispered, simply dropping the phone on the ground in shock. "Why would people write these things about me? I just don't understand," she started walking toward the entrance to the school, trying her hardest not to cry. "Why would someone waste their time hanging flyers about an account that makes me look bad?"

"You can't look at it like that," Sammy followed her, a little annoyed that she had almost broken her cell phone by dropping it. "The writing on your Twitter page is incredibly creative, you know? I mean… these people have managed to say a _lot _in 140 characters."

"What the heck is wrong with you?" Annabelle wheeled around, angrily staring at her friend. "Someone has posted horrible things about me on a Facebook page—"

"That's actually been taken down," Sammy interrupted. "You Tweeted it a few hours ago."

But Annabelle continued, too overwhelmed to have heard the comment. "And now someone has created a Twitter account detailing my many alleged illicit activities. What kind of a friend thinks that sort of behavior is funny?"

"Hey, I'm a _good _friend," Sammy protested. "I'm talking to you right now, aren't I?"

"If you think this is funny, you're no friend of mine," Annabelle lowered her voice, trying not to shake from frustration and anger.

"You're being ridiculous," Sammy frowned. "We're best friends. Why are you going to let some stupid words on a stupid Twitter page drive us apart?"

"You're unbelievable," a few tears slowly slid down Annabelle's cheeks. "Really, seriously, unbelievable. You don't understand, do you? You're just as bad as the administration," she turned on her heels, the tears starting to come faster. "I can't do this anymore," she added.

"Can't do what? Our friendship?" Sammy trotted along beside her.

"Just leave me alone," Annabelle mumbled, walking more quickly.

"No, not until you tell me if our friendship is over or not!"

But Annabelle didn't have to say a word. A few seconds later, a brand new Tweet came through. _Just broke up with best friend. Am now a lonely, sad, pathetic girl. On a happier note, I have a new stash. Hit me up for the 411._

And moments after that, a second Tweet was sent from her account. _New Facebook page can be found at ViewMoreBelle. Sorry for the police trouble. Same goods available, same low price._

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**Earth Tones Coffee Shop**

"I got your page, what's up?" Olivia asked, finding Alex in a corner booth later that evening. "Is everything going okay with the case?"

"I believe so, yes," Alex took a sip of her latte, motioning to the large hot coffee sitting across the table from her. It was her turn to buy, after all. "I just wanted to touch base with you, but didn't want to do it in the office. I spoke with several of the boys accused of harassing Annabelle, and although they admit to the phone calls and the passing of the notes, they claim to have no knowledge of the Facebook account."

"Of course they don't," Olivia frowned.

"Have you been able to locate any evidence that would prove who made the account?" Alex peered at the detective over the rim of her glasses.

"No, not yet, but we're working on it," Olivia took a swig of her coffee. "We were able to get the IP address of the computer that was used to create the account, and we tracked the computer to the public library. Fin and Munch are working on getting a list of the people who used the computer within the past week, hoping to match one of those names with a staff member or student at Annabelle's school."

"Assuming, of course, that someone from her school is the perpetrator."

"It has to be someone from her school, though," Olivia pointed out. "How else would the flyers be getting up on the walls so quickly? Speaking of flyers," she took a sip of her coffee, "There are apparently new ones circulating around the school."

"But I thought you closed the Facebook account," Alex asked in surprise.

"We did, but I got a call from Annabelle today. Someone has now created a Twitter account for her, in addition to a new Facebook page."

Alex sighed. "They're not going to leave this kid alone until she cracks, are they?"

Olivia bit her lip, shaking her head no. "I don't think so. That's why we need to figure out who is behind the harassment, and we need to do it soon. We can keep taking the Facebook and Twitter pages down, but the messages won't stop until we stop the person behind everything."

"How did Annabelle sound when you talked to her?" Alex inquired.

"Horrible," Olivia murmured. "She sounded tired, deflated, depressed. I'm not sure how much more of this she'll be able to take, Alex," she softly admitted.

"Well next time you talk to her, tell her to hang in there. We'll get this problem taken care of soon enough." _I hope so, anyhow._

"I hope so, anyhow," Olivia sighed.

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**TO BE CONTINUED**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N #1: **As always, thank you to those of you who have taken the time to read this story. I'm still hoping to have it done by May 21st!

**A/N #2: **Information from this chapter can be found at wings dot buffalo dot edu/ law/bclc/web/NewYork/ny3(b) dot htm. Again, I am not a lawyer, and have probably made law mistakes. I apologize in advance for those.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.

**Spoilers: **None.

**Summary: **An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.

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**Reddington High School, several weeks later**

Annabelle dejectedly sat in her classroom, listlessly staring at the front board. She had a political science test sitting in front of her, with only the first couple of questions actually filled in. She didn't care, though. She really didn't care about school anymore, and even went so far as to wonder why she even bothered to show up in the first place.

Her days now consisted of her fellow classmates hitting on her or throwing innuendos in her general direction, with the Facebook and Twitter accounts consuming every fiber of her being. It didn't matter how many times she called Olivia to tell her about a new page springing up, nor did it matter how many times the NYPD removed a harassing page. New pages _always _popped up, seemingly within minutes.

And the incessant phone calls. Annabelle had to admit that her classmates were some pretty tech savvy people, because no matter how many times she changed and made her phone number unlisted, they always managed to find her. She could run, but she most certainly could not hide.

It didn't make any sense. Nothing made any sense.

But maybe Sammy was right, she mused to herself. Maybe she just had to ignore what was going on and move forward with her life. Olivia didn't seem to be able to help, and Alex? Well this was the first time in her life that Annabelle questioned whether or not lawyers did any good. Whether or not they _were _any good. Whether or not they were the good guys that she had grown up thinking they were. Shouldn't people have been arrested for something by now?

In a sense, Annabelle's heart ached so deeply that she felt utterly depressed and defeated. No, no one was physically attacking her, as Sammy had so graciously pointed out, but she felt like her peers were attacking something much more important to her than her physical body: they were attacking her values, her personality, and her character. Every joking phone call that she received asking for sex, or every dropped letter on her desk, brought her that much closer to the brink of despair.

Annabelle just couldn't escape her tormenters, and she felt her life slowly slipping away.

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**16****th**** Precinct**

"What the hell is going on up there, Alex?" Olivia fumed, pacing back and forth beside her desk. "It's been weeks now, and still nothing new on Annabelle's case? What the hell do we need to do in order to get a warrant or a conviction?"

Alex calmly perched herself on Elliot's desk, watching as her friend and co-worker paced back and forth. "I can't move forward without solid evidence from your end of things. You know that. Give me something that I can use, and I'll take the case to court in a heart beat, Olivia."

"Give you something that you can use?" Olivia scoffed, momentarily standing in place. Ignoring the stares from her partner, Finn, and Munch, she frowned. "We _gave _you the names of the boys who have been harassing her!"

"And I spoke with those boys, but you know as well as I do that we don't have enough to charge them with anything major."

"We don't have enough to charge them with anything major?" Olivia repeated Alex's words, her hands placed firmly on her hips in order to keep them from flailing around in anger. "What about harassment? Isn't that a crime in the great state of New York?"

"Olivia, calm down," Elliot finally interrupted, getting to his feet. "This isn't helping Annabelle right now."

"_We're _not helping Annabelle right now, so don't you _dare _tell me to calm down, El!" she shot back. "You _heard _her voice, didn't you? She's no longer the spunky little ninth grader that she was when we first met her!"

"I know," he raised his hands in defense, trying to placate his partner. "I understand that she's starting to give up, but we're all doing our best."

"Well in this case, our best isn't good enough. At this point, we might as well arrest the whole damned school for harassment."

"So why don't you do that?" Alex gently but seriously asked. "I said that we don't have enough to charge them with anything major enough to give them jail time, but I can probably get my boss to agree to harassment in the second degree or aggravated harassment in the second degree. Read them their rights and bring them in, and I'll see what we can get from them after that. Who knows, maybe we'll even be able to figure out who's behind this whole mess."

"Come on, I'll drive," Elliot grabbed his keys, followed by Olivia's elbow, leading her outside.

Finn and Munch were right behind them.

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**Reddington High School**

"You can't come in here like this!" Reid Bannon shouted from the doorway of the main office, his face bright red. "What do you think you're doing? This is a place of learning!"

"Which is precisely why we're here," Olivia breezed by the principal, heading directly for Annabelle's political science class, four officers right on her heels. It was still first period, and she remembered exactly where the young girl's classroom was located.

"What are you doing?" Bannon repeated, following a short distance behind. "Are you arresting someone? Parents will need to be called and notified!"

"Parents will be called," Elliot assured the other man. "And yes, we're about to deal with your bullying and harassment problem. We warned you that this matter wasn't to be taken lightly, Sir."

"Is this Annabelle Lewis's fault?" the principal persisted. "That girl makes a mountain out of a mole hill! There's no reason to arrest anyone, wouldn't you agree?'

Olivia stopped dead in her tracks, immediately turning on her heels. Ripping a conveniently placed Facebook flyer from the wall, she handed it to Bannon. "I call this harassment," she told him, doing her best to keep her temper under control. "Our department has already shut down five or six different Facebook pages in the past week alone, not to mention several Twitter accounts. The purpose of each account was to harass and belittle one of your students, so please excuse me if I side with Annabelle on this one," she continued her trek down the hallway. "In fact, we should have arrested some of your students a full week and a half ago. I suppose we owe Annabelle a major apology."

"But I—" Bannon tried again, deeply frowning when Olivia and Elliot opened the political science classroom door, walking inside without hesitation.

"Joshua Schwartz, Jesse Niemitz, Steven Smith, Trevor Goodard, you're all under arrest," Elliot intoned, reading them their rights as four officers moved in to cuff the boys.

"What for?" Josh sputtered in surprise, tripping as he was forcefully pulled to his feet.

"Harrassment and bullying," Olivia replied, looking over at Annabelle for the briefest of moments. She looked so sad, and the detective didn't know how to help.

"But we didn't _do _anything!" Josh tried to tell Elliot.

"Again, you have the right to remain silent, so I suggest that you do so," he told the boys.

Annabelle quietly began to cry, tears sliding down her cheeks as she finally gazed at Olivia. _Thank you_, she mouthed.

Olivia beckoned Annabelle forward, smiling when the student hesitantly got out of her chair and followed the detective out into the hallway. "I'm sorry, honey," she murmured once they were alone. "We should have done this a lot sooner, but we were hoping to find the ringleader of this whole situation. That's why we haven't arrested anyone up until this point. Can you hang in there a bit longer for me, though? We haven't given up on finding the person who's been instigating everything."

"I'll try, but I can't take much more of this," Annabelle softly admitted. "I can't stand my life anymore, Olivia," she added. "Please, you have to do something soon."

"We will, just hang in there. And call me any time that you need me, okay?" the detective asked. "Day or night."

Rather than verbally replying, Annabelle flung herself into Olivia's arms, who simply held the ninth grader while she cried.

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**TO BE CONTINUED**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N #1: **This clearly is not a story that revolves around any romantic relationship (aside from an Alex/Olivia friendship), but I'm glad that some of you are enjoying it none-the-less. I also realize that this story is written differently than most fics (with an original character acting as a crucial focal point of the story), but I thought that bullying was an important issue to highlight. I love SVU, because perhaps more than most shows, it revolves around extremely emotional and volatile situations. I like portraying the situations and then having the show's characters react. So thanks for hanging in there. There is only one more chapter to go.

**A/N #2: **I'm still not a lawyer, so I apologize for all inaccuracies in this story.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.

**Spoilers: **None.

**Summary: **An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.

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**Reddington High School**

"You little _bitch_," Sammy hissed at Annabelle as she approached her locker after first period. "Are you kidding me? You had those guys arrested for simply _saying _something about you? What the hell is wrong with you, Annabelle?"

"What's wrong with _me_?" Annabelle's eyes widened in surprise. "What's wrong with _you_? You haven't been supportive of me at all over the past few weeks! I thought you were my best friend!"

"Yeah, well you thought wrong," Sammy replied, slamming Annabelle's locker door shut in her face before storming off. "Bitch."

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**16****th**** Precinct**

"Come on, Josh," Olivia leaned back in her chair, staring at the ninth grader's face while effectively ignoring his lawyer. "You're telling me that you don't know anything at all about the bullying situation at school?"

"I don't know _anything_," Josh repeated, throwing a glance at his lawyer. "Why does she keep asking me the same questions over and over again?"

"I can answer that," Olivia rested her elbows on the table. "Because you were one of the first people who told Annabelle about the Facebook page several weeks ago, and you're the person who has since called her the most." Glancing down at the page in front of her, she sighed. "One hundred and seventeen phone calls in two weeks. That's a bit excessive, Josh, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well—" Josh's face turned red. "That can't be right. I don't think I've called her that many times."

"Phone records don't lie," Olivia shoved a sheaf of papers across the table to him. Pointing to the first highlighted phone number, she tapped the page. "Is that your cell phone number?"

"Yeah, but I—" he tried to say.

"Well according to this," Olivia cut him off, "You _did_ call her one hundred and seventeen times. Are you two dating?"

"No, but—"

"Did you need help with your political science homework?"

"No, but—" he tried again.

"Then what, Josh?" Olivia again calmly leaned back in her chair. "What could you _possibly _need to talk to her about one hundred and seventeen times?"

"It wasn't my idea!" Josh blurted out. "I promise you, it wasn't my idea!"

Alex left her position behind the one-way mirror, quietly slipping into the room. Taking a seat beside Olivia, she gazed at the student. "Josh, I'm Assistant District Attorney Cabot."

"An ADA?" Josh's face paled. "But I told you, it wasn't my idea!" he anxiously squirmed in his chair.

Josh's lawyer placed a hand on his arm to quiet him down. "What are we actually dealing with here, Alex? A simple prank gone wrong?"

"Wrong would be an understatement, Jason," she murmured, her gaze unwavering. "Your client has been harassing another student at his school for two weeks now—"

"But I wasn't the only one!" Josh interrupted.

"—And I plan to charge him with aggravated harassment in the second degree."

"For some prank phone calls?" Jason laughed. "These are kids playing harmless pranks on other kids!"

Olivia took a deep breath to angrily retort, only stopping when she caught Alex's warning look.

"We have evidence that your client made one hundred and seventeen calls in a two week period," Alex maintained. "That's more than eight phone calls a day, with the calls often times coming one right after another. We also have copies of notes that Mr. Schwartz wrote to Ms. Lewis, each one more crude than the one before it."

Jason frowned, leaning forward. "And if he talks?"

"But I don't know anything!"

"If he talks," Alex once again ignored Josh, "I'll lower the charge from aggravated harassment in the second degree to harassment in the first degree. His record will also be sealed when he hits eighteen."

"Fine, I'd like a moment alone with my client."

"Certainly," Alex replied, walking to the door.

"What do you think?" Olivia asked, once they were both outside of the interrogation room.

"I think he'll talk," the attorney leaned against the wall, her arms folded across her chest. "And then I think we'll know exactly who's behind this, and we can make things better for Annabelle. How did the conversation with the other three boys go?"

"None of the other three would admit to knowing anything, so I think our best bet will be with Josh."

Alex simply nodded, her head turning toward the door when she heard it open. "Your client ready to deal?" she asked Jason.

"Yes, he is," he moved aside so that both Olivia and Alex could re-enter the room.

"It was all Sammy's idea," the student blurted out before either woman had a chance to sit down. "And I'll tell you why."

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**16****th**** Precinct, later that day**

"Well I didn't see this one coming, that's for sure," Olivia paced back and forth in the interrogation room, both Elliot and Sammy sitting at the table. "I thought you were her best friend, Sam? What happened?"

"I'm not saying a word," Sam mumbled, angrily staring down at the floor.

"No, really, I want to know what happened."

Sammy's lawyer sat quietly beside her, scrawling a few notes on his pad of paper.

"You can't prove that I did anything wrong," she finally told Olivia, defiantly meeting her gaze. "I didn't write any letters, nor did I make any phone calls. I didn't even make the posters!"

"That's true," Elliot replied, "But we can still prove that you were involved, and in fact the one running the whole show."

"Do you watch Judge Judy or the People's Court?" Olivia asked.

"What?" Sam blinked in confusion.

"I was just wondering if you watched any court television," she continued. "Judge Judy isn't always nice, but she talks about keeping a paper trail. Did you know that Josh loves watching Judge Judy after school?"

Sam's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, well when you emailed him your idea for getting even with Annabelle, he saved every single one of those emails."

"You're lying," she mumbled.

"I don't lie," Olivia handed her a stack of papers. "I think the first one is the most interesting one of them all. 'Josh, I need your help. I've decided that I hate Annabelle, and I want to get even with her. Will you help me?'"

Sam blushed.

"Or how about this one? I'm sure you remember it, but this was you response to his question of why. 'Because Jacob said he had a little crush on her, and I don't want her to go out with him. I like him.'"

"Jealousy is one of the most common reasons for bullying," Elliot added. "But I don't get it, Sam. Why try to ruin her life over a boy?"

"I think we're done here," Sam's lawyer got to his feet.

"Because she already has it all, and she doesn't even know it," Sammy spit out, tears springing to her eyes. "She's pretty, she's smart, she knows everything… and then she was going to take the boy that I liked? That isn't fair!"

"So you tried to destroy her life? How is _that _fair?" Olivia asked.

"We're done here," the lawyer repeated, dragging Sammy out the door.

"Actually, she's under arrest," Olivia followed them into the hallway.

Rounding the corner, Alex nodded at the lawyer. "You'll have the charges and documents delivered to your office within the hour."

"But this isn't fair," Sammy continued to sob.

_Yeah, well tell it to the judge_, Olivia thought to herself.

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**Reddington High School**

"Hi there," Olivia warmly smiled at Annabelle as she leaned against a nearby locker after school. "I wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm okay, I guess," Annabelle shrugged, dropping her book bag on the floor. "I already heard what happened; you'd be surprised at how quickly rumors fly around here."

"I'm sure that texting helps with that."

"Yeah, sort of," she flashed the detective a wan smile. "I still can't believe that Sam was involved with this whole mess, though. I didn't see that one coming at all."

"I didn't either," Olivia admitted. "But none-the-less, I'm so sorry that she did this to you."

"It's okay," Annabelle sadly replied. "I'll move on, right? High school can't last forever, and then I'll be able to go to law school."

"You're a strong young lady, you know that?" Olivia again smiled. "You remind me so much of my friend Alex. With your attitude and determination, I have no doubt that you will someday go on to do great things."

"You really think so?" Annabelle couldn't help but return Olivia's smile. "I hope you're right."

"I know I'm right. Just give it some time, and ninth grade will be but a distant memory."

"Thanks, Olivia, for everything. I know that the rest of the year will be hard, but I'll get through it."

"Keep in touch, honey, okay?" the detective asked as the two walked toward the front door of the school. "I want to know how you're doing."

Annabelle simply nodded, feeling a mixture of relief and sorrow.

For the most part, things went pretty well for another month or so, with everything going back to normal.

Things were decent at Reddington High School, in fact, until Annabelle received an email from New York University.

And then things went from bad to worse.

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**TO BE CONTINUED**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **I hope you all enjoyed the conclusion of Mad World! As always, thank you for taking this journey with me.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any part of Law and Order: SVU. That honor goes to the good folks over at NBC.

**Spoilers: **None.

**Summary: **An intelligent, non-athletic, non-confrontational ninth grade girl just trying to survive high school learns precisely how cruel some kids can truly be.

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**One month later**

"I don't understand," Annabelle whispered to herself, reading and then rereading the email from New York University. "But why? How? This isn't true! This isn't fair!" she sobbed into her hands, tossing the email aside.

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**16****th**** Precinct**

"Hey, Olivia?" Alex briskly walked into the squad room, an email clutched tightly in her hand. "I just received something that's a little bit on the disquieting side, and I thought that you should see it."

"What is it?" Olivia curiously asked, reaching for the piece of paper.

"It's an email that was forwarded to me by the dean of admissions at New York University," she replied, taking a seat at the detective's desk. "It involves our little friend from Reddington High School."

"What?" Olivia started scanning the document, her eyes widening in surprise as her face turned red in anger. "You've got to be kidding me."

"What is it?" Elliot asked, coming up behind Olivia.

Handing the email over to her partner, she frowned. "It's a photo shopped picture of Annabelle in a compromising situation, with the caption stating that she'll do anything to get into New York University's law program. It also has drug paraphernalia in the background, which is probably why it made its way to Alex's desk in the first place."

"Wow," Elliot returned the email to the assistant district attorney. "That's, uh—" he cleared his throat.

"Insane," Olivia muttered under her breath. "Ridiculously, without a doubt, insane. Do you know who sent it?" she then asked Alex. "The email address is a hotmail account with Annabelle's name, but you know just as well as I did that she didn't send it."

"We tracked the email through the IP address once again, and it was sent from a computer at Reddington High School. We worked with the IT department to determine which student was logged on to that particular computer at the time that the email was sent, and we came up with—"

"Sam," Olivia and Elliot both said at the same time.

"But the problem is that the original email was also sent to Annabelle's school email account. If she's seen this," Alex continued, "She probably isn't doing too well. New York University means everything to her."

"We're on it," Olivia was already heading to the door, Elliot right behind her.

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**Home of Annabelle Lewis**

"Elliot," Olivia very quietly whispered under her breath, holding her gun out in front of her as they entered the house at 113 Pemberton Street. Blood. There was too much blood, and it was everywhere.

"I know," he whispered back, glancing down the hallway as he cautiously inched along the corridor. The trail was leading them directly toward the residence's home office, and for once, he had no idea what to expect. He and Olivia wouldn't have known that anything was wrong in the house to begin with, as a matter-of-fact, had it not been for the copious amounts of blood on the doormat. After knocking and ringing the doorbell numerous times to no avail, they called for backup, and entered the home.

_Be careful_, Olivia mouthed to her partner, stopping just in front of the office door. _Count of three_, she held up one finger, then two, followed by the third. Gently nudging the door open, she couldn't stop the surprised gasp that fell from her lips; the room's only occupant was Annabelle Lewis, the ninth grader whom they had been working with for the past several months. The young girl looked to be a complete mess: her hair was matted from sweat, her face was red and blotchy from tears, and she couldn't seem to stand still.

Carefully pushing past his partner, Elliot scanned the room for any signs of an intruder, slightly sighing in relief when he couldn't detect one.

Pointing her weapon at the ground, Olivia gazed at the young girl in concern. "Annabelle, what happened? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm _not_ okay," Annabelle anxiously blurted out, standing just in front of her opened laptop, a gun held loosely by her side. "Does it look like I'm okay?" she asked, blood caked along several shallow cuts near her left wrist.

"What happened?" Olivia gently probed, cautiously walking further into the room. Although she had certainly noticed the gun, she really didn't think that the young girl would hurt her, especially given all that had taken place between the two of them over the past sixty days.

"Don't come near me," Annabelle shrieked, fresh tears sliding down her cheeks. Bringing the gun up to her own head with a shaky hand, she added, "I don't want you to come anywhere near me, got it?"

"Okay, okay," Olivia immediately took a step backward, not wanting to scare Annabelle into making the biggest mistake of her life. Knowing that Elliot still had his own weapon out, she holstered hers. "I won't come near you, but I need to know what's going on, honey," she murmured.

"I'm going to kill myself, that's what's going on, and everyone is going to be able to watch," she sniffled her reply, her hand now shaking even more. Nodding at the camera connected to her computer, she returned her gaze to Olivia.

The detective's eyes widened in shock. What the hell was going on? "You don't have to do this, honey," she whispered to the terrified teenager, holding her empty hands up and open. "Please don't do this; you have other options, trust me."

"_Trust_ you?" Annabelle couldn't help but laugh in disbelief, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You want me to _trust_ you? Why should I? You haven't been able to help me so far," she added, holding the gun closer to her right temple.

"I know it may not seem like that," Olivia tried to remain calm, "But you don't want to do this, Annabelle. Think about what you're about to do," she inched toward the ninth grader.

"Don't you _dare_ tell me what to do!" Annabelle took a step backward, instead wildly waving her gun at Olivia. "You have _no_ idea what it's like to be me, do you? Do you even remember ninth grade, Olivia? Huh? Do you? Ninth grade _sucks_! _They_ suck!"

"I know it does, honey, and I know that they do," Olivia remained still, her gaze riveted to Annabelle's face. "But please don't give them the satisfaction of ending your own life. Let us help you," she kept her voice even and steady. "Let _me_ help you. _Please_," she practically begged.

"It's too late for that," Annabelle choked back a sob, shakily returning the gun to her temple. "I tried, Olivia, I really did. I tried so hard to stick it out, but in the end, I couldn't do it. I'm so sorry," she cocked her gun.

"Alex has already contacted New York University," Olivia quickly spoke up, "And they understand the situation. Our partners have also arrested Sam for the email, and your principal has been suspended by your school district pending an investigation. You don't have to do this," she murmured. "Really, Annabelle, it's over this time. You've won."

Annabelle stared at Olivia, her tears seeming to somewhat slow down.

"I mean it, honey, it's over. Please, just put down your gun."

"But I wanted a fair chance at New York University someday," Annabelle whispered, "And Sam took that away from me."

"She hasn't taken anything away from you," Olivia softly smiled at the ninth grader. "In fact, you should see what Alex managed to do for you. But I need you to lower your gun. It's time."

Annabelle sniffled once more, but lowered her arm so that the gun was now pointed at the ground rather than at her temple. Allowing Olivia to take the weapon away from her, she sank to her knees. "Am I going to be arrested for threatening the life of an officer?"

"I didn't see you threaten anyone, did you, Elliot?" she asked her partner, kneeling on the ground beside Annabelle. Pulling the sobbing girl into her arms, she slowly rocked her back and forth.

"Nope, I didn't," Elliot holstered his weapon, taking care of Annabelle's gun.

"But we're going to get you some help," Olivia whispered, continuing to rock her back and forth. "I promise."

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**16****th**** Precinct, later that day**

"Annabelle," Alex smiled, walking into one of the conference rooms. "I wanted to talk to you for a few minutes about your desire to pursue law as a career.

"I don't think that any law school will want me anymore, given everything that's happened," she mumbled her reply, not even making eye contact with Alex.

"That isn't true," Olivia interjected. "You can't think like that, honey."

"But after the email that went out? Why would New York University ever want me in their program?"

"You were a victim," Alex reminded her, "And nothing that happened was your fault. I explained everything to the admissions board, and they understand. Besides, you still have three more years until you can graduation."

"True," Annabelle acknowledged. "Maybe I can get my grades back up by then."

Alex and Olivia exchanged knowing glances.

"And I wanted to offer you a mini-internship of sorts," Alex continued. "I'm afraid that I can't offer you a job because of your age, nor will the work be all that exciting, but I'd like to give you the chance to shadow me once a week for as long as you're interested."

Annabelle's head shot up as she gazed at Alex. "Are you serious?"

"I don't lie," Alex chuckled. "What do you say?"

"I—I'd love to!" a real smile graced her lips for the first time in months. "When can I start?"

"How about Friday?" Alex returned her smile.

"I won't disappoint you, I promise!"

"I know you won't," Alex murmured. "I have no doubt in my mind."

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**Reddington High School, three years later**

"It is my privilege and honor to announce that this year's valedictorian is Annabelle Lewis, a young woman who has already been accepted into New York University's pre-law program. Annabelle?"

Annabelle took the stage to thunderous applause, with the loudest cheering and clapping coming from her very own 16th Precinct and ADA cheering section.

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_Finis_


End file.
